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Exchanged Glory V: God Meant it for Good
<page 171>When we realize that in between “My God, My God why have you forsaken me” and “It is finished” Jesus experienced the rest of Psalm 22, we see that this last statement is charged with incredible power.
Immediately after expressing His feeling that God had forsaken Him (Psalm 22:1-2), Jesus encouraged Himself with a history lesson:
But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in You; they trusted, and You delivered them. They cried to You, and were delivered; they trusted in You, and were not ashamed.
We know from other places in the Bible, like Isaiah 53, that Jesus was suffering the punishment for our sins, which involved being separated from His Father. As a result, He was not going to see an answer to His prayers and attempts at encouragement until the time of judgment was over. Why then did He bother to pray and give Himself a history lesson?
The answer becomes obvious when we consider another question: Where else did it make sense to go? Should He turn to the world? How about the Devil? Jesus stayed with the only One who could really help, even when that One was temporarily rejecting Him. Life doesn’t make sense without God. Jesus held onto His sanity, even while being rejected by His Father, by remembering that His Father gives life meaning.
What better lesson could there be for those of us who have been forgiven the sins for which Jesus suffered rejection? When we feel unworthy, even though we are accepted because of what He has done, we tend to run from the throne of grace. Jesus shows us that even when He had become sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), when He was seen before God as a mass murderer, child molester, sadist …there was simply no other place to go.
Jesus acted as He had previously acted when He only felt far from God. He turned to the Father in faith for the love and help He needed. Psalm 22 follows the pattern of many psalms. It is an honest expression of intense emotion as a person grapples to find God in difficult circumstances. Under the waves of emotion that surged through Jesus’ heart, His spiritual foundation remained. He clung to the promises of the Torah and Prophets. God had delivered those who trusted in former generations; He would deliver His Son also. The Father was enthroned on the praises of Israel, so Jesus praised the Father by remembering the miracles of former times.
The word translated enthroned, yashab, means “to sit down …; by implication, to dwell, to remain ….”[77] Jesus sought to have the Father dwell and remain with Him, even when this was impossible. He pressed forward to the time when He would once again experience the Father’s presence, because only that presence could sustain Him when all human strength failed.
<page 172>And here I am, a nothing — an earthworm, something to step on, to squash. Everyone pokes fun at me; they make faces at me, they shake their heads: "Let's see how GOD handles this one; since God likes him so much, let him help him!"
(Psalm 22:6-8, The Message)
As I mentioned in the previous chapter, the cruel taunts of the people crucifying Jesus distracted Him. They made it difficult to hold to the hope He had brought to memory in verses 3-5. In response, Jesus encouraged Himself again by remembering His own past.
But You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while on My mother's breasts. I was cast upon You from birth. From My mother's womb You have been My God. Be not far from Me, for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
Shortly after Jesus was born, King Herod ordered the death of all of the young children of Bethlehem in an attempt to kill Jesus (Matthew 2:16-18), but the Father had been His God from the womb. He had watched over His Son while on His mother’s breasts. As a totally defenseless child, the Almighty had saved Him.
The cross would be no different. The Father would make a way for Jesus to do what needed to be done. Knowing this gave Jesus the strength to continue …but other thoughts fought against His faith.
Many bulls have surrounded Me; strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me. They gape at Me with their mouths, like a raging and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.
The ferocity of the attacks against Jesus together with the deteriorating state of His body grabbed for His attention. The pain caused His heart to melt like wax (in today’s language, we might say that he is having a physical and emotional meltdown). His hands and feet were pierced and the soldiers divided His garments among them. This suffering and humiliation drained Him, so He once again cried out for help.
But You, O LORD, do not be far from Me; O My Strength, hasten to help Me! Deliver Me from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog. Save Me from the lion's mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen. …
<page 173> Jesus described His situation using the imagery of being attacked by wild animals (verses 12, 16, 20-21). Imagine how we would feel if dogs, lions, bulls, and oxen were about to tear us to pieces. We would want to panic and strike at anything near us. Those same sorts of feelings rose within Jesus’ heart.
He held onto His sanity by hoping in God. He asked His Father to be His Strength and to help Him to endure. He knew there was a plan, and His belief in that plan kept Him from grabbing control and demanding His own way.
What better example could we have for overcoming the Unprotected Heart Stronghold? It is built largely on a distorted form of the good instincts God has given to seek protection from harm. Jesus showed that we can deny and work through those instincts for the sake of something better. We can refuse to rely on our own understanding and can find God as our Strength and Deliverer. His Appointments will provide the perfect answers for whatever trial or trauma we find ourselves in.
Though I have never experienced anything close to what Jesus did on the cross, the struggle I see described in Psalm 22 strikes a chord in my heart. I have sometimes felt abandoned by God …yet I have reminded myself of His past miracles to revive my hope …but my pain continued to pull me down …so I reminded myself of His past goodness in my life …and yet I still felt dragged under by my struggles.
I needed answers that were based in supernatural power rather than human ability. As I persevered, I experienced what I call God’s Appointment. Psalm 22 is a magnificent picture of what I mean by this phrase. The Father had an Appointment with Jesus as He hung on the cross that transformed the experience.
…You have answered me.
Starting with verse 21, the entire tone of the psalm changes from one of emotional weakness to one of emotional strength. The time of separation and judgment for sins was over (John 19:28) – Jesus had paid the price, and now the Father was rushing to His side!
It is possible that this part of the Psalm refers to the time when Jesus was passing from this world to the next. As all human strength was vanishing, He became aware that God had answered Him, and this infused His heart with supernatural power. He saw what was being accomplished, and the cross faded into the background as the reality of the resurrection and ascension emerged.
I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise You. You who fear the LORD, praise Him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, and fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!
(Psalm 22:22-23, see also Hebrews 2:11-12)
<page 174> The promise about God being enthroned on the praises of His people, which Jesus had painstakingly quoted in Psalm 22:3, has now become a felt reality. The Father has touched Him and given Him a vision of what will come from His suffering, raising Him above the torture and humiliation. Before long, He will enjoy sweet times of declaring God’s name to His brethren. His praise will rise in the midst of the assembly, causing people to glorify and fear God.
For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; nor has He hidden His face from Him; but when He cried to Him, He heard.
The cross was a declaration that God chose not to hide His face. In a straightforward sense, this meant He sided with His Son rather than the powerful oppressors who despised Him, but it went even deeper than that. Jesus was bearing our penalty, making a way for us to experience the same sort of comfort He was now experiencing. Just as the Father had come to His side, He would also come to our sides in our sufferings and spiritual struggles. The cross released the favor of God that turned His face toward us rather than away from us.
The Holy Spirit was driving home to Jesus’ heart that He was accomplishing a work that would free people from the horrors of sin and death. God would not despise or abhor us, even when we had caused our own trouble; He was going to draw near to us and take our side against the evil that threatens us.
It has now become clear to Jesus that the cross was a place where love was winning its greatest battle. Just as He had been enabled to face the worst the devil could throw at a human being, so we would be enabled to face the problems that come against us. The Father would fill us with His Spirit and come to our side. He would make us new creations. We would have the ability to take up our own crosses and follow Him. When our feelings overwhelmed us, His indwelling presence would infuse us with power.
My praise shall be of You in the great assembly; I will pay My vows before those who fear Him. The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek Him will praise the LORD. Let your heart live forever!
Jesus was opening a way for the poor to rise above oppression and enter into God’s goodness. They were going to see God weaving evil for good. Poverty no longer had the strength to keep them from God’s provision. Individuals and cultures would be changed, creating opportunities for all.
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You. For the kingdom is the LORD's, and He rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth shall eat and worship; all those who go down to the dust shall bow before Him, even he who cannot keep himself alive.
A picture was painted before Jesus’ eyes, showing that His obedience would affect the ends of the world. He saw countless people from distant places remembering and turning to the Lord. <page 175>The families of the nations would worship before Him. The humiliation of the cross was going to be reversed, causing people to bow down before God.
Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed — that exhilarating finish in and with God — he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. (emphasis added)
(Hebrews 12:2, The Message)
There is a hope set before us just as there was before Jesus. Along the way, we may feel as if God has failed us; we may cry in the daytime and endure through the night; we may be mocked and feel like worms; our emotions might fly in a thousand insane directions as doubt, recrimination, Fear, Guilt, Anger, and Sorrow come in waves against our soul – but Jesus has shown us the way. Study how He did it!
He demonstrated that we can honestly express our hearts to God as we make our way to His goal. We can deny selfish emotional expressions as we work through them toward godly expressions. The craziness and difficulty may be beyond our human ability to endure, but as we choose to endure in faith, He touches us with supernatural ability. We find Him with us in the middle of our messes, bringing transforming grace which touches us now and blesses future generations.
A posterity shall serve Him. It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation, they will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, that He has done this. (emphasis added)
The Hebrew word translated “He has done this,” ‘asah,’ in Psalm 22:31 means that a work has been accomplished or finished.[78] It corresponds to what Jesus said on the cross before He died.
He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit. (emphasis added)
When we realize that in between “My God, My God why have you forsaken me” and “It is finished” Jesus experienced the rest of Psalm 22, we see that this last statement is charged with incredible power. It isn’t the last gasp of a defeated man saying, “It’s finally over. I can die now.” It is instead the triumphant declaration of a man who had found God’s Appointment: “It’s as good as done! The victory is won!”
While demons danced on a hill outside Jerusalem, they were disarmed (Col 2:15). When sin raised its fist to grab control, it lost its grip (Rom 6). When the devil cried, “I’ve killed life,” he lost the power of death (Heb 2:14). Amazing things happen when we take up our cross and let God weave what was meant for evil into good.
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